Designers Speculate on the Future from the Year 2015

The future looks bright and strange

I can't help but wonder if our current visions of the future are wildly limited in imagination, or if resolutions in our time are akin to the retro futuristic aesthetic of the 1950s as demonstrated in The Jetsons or Streamline Moderne. Either way, we can't help but be held back by our restraints within the present—it is hard to imagine the full potential of technology without prior examples or realistic seeming concepts.

But as dated as The Jetsons may be, there are still some predictions made that have come to full fruition (for one, video phones and home robots).

Rosie vs. Roomba

When you think about it, this could still be considered a pretty accurate depiction of how we use video phones and social media (but instead of a 'morning mask' we rely on good selfie angles and photo filters)

So what are some news stories from this year that bet on how we might live in the future? And how accurate do they really seem? Let's dig in:

Sadly, this ramen machine does not exist—but what a vision it is! Just slot in your ramen packet and it shoots out the package into a perfectly folded piece of origami. Pick your favorite ingredients and they come raining down into your bowl. Finally, have your chopsticks slowly and carefully custom laser cut before each meal. Now, who's going to turn this into a reality?

Living in the Future Apparently Means Robot Snakes

MIT's LineFORM Project

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A recent bit of news, MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group developed a flexible, wearable robot concept that performs a variety of tasks like changing form according to a task or even recording someone's movement so anyone can perform an exact replica of the recorded actions (A strategy for future sci-fi esque automated combat? Freaky). This technology is certainly something to watch out for in the future.

A Camera That Decides Where You Can Take Photographs

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With the proliferation of Instagram and other social media, let's be honest, there are probably a million versions of the same picture out there (especially when it comes to famous landmarks). This conceptual product, Camera Restricta, takes it upon itself to limit this kind of activity: "it locates itself via GPS and searches online for photos that have been geotagged nearby," creator Philipp Schmitt writes. "If the camera decides that too many photos have been taken at your location, it retracts the shutter and blocks the viewfinder." Maybe a product like this could compel people to actually be present in the moment rather than simply photographing it.

This Heat Map Microwave Would Let You See Exactly How Hot Your Food Is

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Even though a breakthrough is small, it doesn't mean it won't be high in demand.

Visions of the Future of Transportation Design

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In Royal College of Art's 2015 MA Automative Design Show this year, every variation of transportation is re-imagined for the future, including a yacht that harvests pollutive ocean plastic for use in 3D printing and an autonomous tractor for aging farmers.

The Soap of the Future: Bubbles!

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Apparently in the near future, we might be able to ditch soap. Researchers at the UK's University of Southampton have come up with a better way to disinfect with bubbles and ultrasound—not only is the process chemical-free, it also may be able to eliminate the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance aka bacterial super-strains.

Dutch Design Week 2015: The Graduation Show at the DAE

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Eindhoven is often the first educational program to check for wildly explorative designs and concepts for the future, and this year's display of projects at their Dutch Design Week Graduation Show were no exception to the rule. The show included 3D printed ceramic works from Olivier Van Herpt, design objects with blood tissue grafted onto the surface as well as objects made entirely out of lava.

Dog Walking Drones, Flux Capacitors, and Maybe Nikes: Back to the Future Day is Here

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You can't do a 'Visions of the Future' list his year without mentioning Back to the Future—set in 2015, the timeline of the movie is now sadly set completely in the past. How much did the movie get right for the year 2015 and what did it miss?

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